Hewlett-Packard has announced two new all-in-one (AIO) desktops with an eye on the upcoming holiday season. The world's leading PC maker has embarked on a generational overhaul, or so it claims, with the new TouchSmart 310 PC. According to the company, the TouchSmart 310 is “the fourth generation of the HP TouchSmartPC.” Aesthetically, the multitouch AIO is markedly different from its antecedents. Actually, it is closer to the iMac than its elder cognates as far as looks go.

The 310 features a 20-inch touch screen, AMD Athlon II 240e dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, a 1-TB hard drive, DVD burner, and ATI Radeon HD 4270 graphics. The basic SKU will be available for $699. Before we move onto the second AIO, it is worth mentioning that HP has also revamped the TouchSmart software interface. Furthermore, there are a bunch of new built-for-touch apps, including Marvel Comics, Facebook and Cartoon Network, to go along with the cosmetic changes. The Marvel Comics app is particularly exciting as it can be used to access more than 8,000 comics (paid).

Finally, let us move onto the second AIO, the Omni 100, which is a non-touch PC built around a dual-core AMD Athlon II 260u CPU. The $499 all-in-one features a 20-inch display, 3GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Both the PCs are “planned to be available Sept. 22 at www.hpdirect.com and at select retailers nationwide on Oct. 24.”